MPs travel to US on fake news mission

Members of the UK's Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee are in Washington to grill Facebook, Google and Twitter about fake news on their platforms. The committee will also hear evidence from a range of academics and those who work in news, including Tony Maddox, vice-president at CNN, Kinsey Wilson, chief executive of the New York Times, and Major Garrett, chief White House correspondent for CBS News. In written evidence submitted ahead of the hearing, David Chavern, president of the News Media Alliance - which represents nearly 2,000 news properties across the US - said Google and Facebook needed to do more. What is fake news? Where does biased but legitimate commentary move into propaganda and lies? What impact does fake news have on public understanding of the world and on the public response to traditional journalism? Is there any difference in the way people of different ages, social backgrounds and gender use and respond to fake news? Have changes in the selling and placing of advertising encouraged the growth of fake news? Both the UK and the US are taking the issue of fake news increasingly seriously and there is mounting pressure on tech firms to do more to combat it.